1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to freestanding office systems including modular work stations wherein the work stations include a common conduit which serves as an air return duct for the office.
2. State of the Prior Art
Open space office systems including freestanding work stations have enjoyed great utility and provide a simple means for designing and reconfiguring office areas. The work stations are generally formed from a number of vertical panels which are assembled in a predetermined configuration so as to divide an office space into a number of discrete work areas. The vertical panels may support work surfaces, storage cabinets or the like so that each worker is provided with a certain degree of privacy. One of the important advantages of such an office system is that it provides much flexibility for reconfiguring the office design as needed.
In order to maintain the flexibility of the open space system, it is desirable to avoid any type of permanent utility structures such as electrical conduits and heating and ventilation ducts. In this regard, some office systems include utility conduits which are mounted to the vertical panels as the system, such as disclosed in the Gartung U.S. Pat. No. 4,056,297 issued Nov. 1, 1977. Such utility conduits provided on a vertical panel allow electrical cabling and the like to be carried on the office components instead of being permanently mounted in the ceiling or the floor.
Another type of utility conduit arrangement for use in open office systems is that shown in the Boundy U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,981, issued Dec. 24, 1974. In the Boundy patent, the vertical panels include a vertically extending tube for attachment to ceiling panels in which permanent utility structures are mounted. It also has been known to provide a conduit on the work station such as that shown in the Meyer U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,045 issued Nov. 25, 1975 wherein a cable conduit is attached below the work surface of a modular work station so that the cable conduit extends between adjacent work areas. Another form of utility conduit arrangement is that shown in the Anderson et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,297 issued Sept. 18, 1973, wherein a utility conduit is mounted to the vertical panels of an open space system.
Some work areas have been provided with an air supply system such as that shown in the Holper et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,256 issued June 13, 1978. In the Holper patent, the work table includes ducts in the side member supports of the table which provide for air supply and return. Each desk, however, must include a separate air supply mounted in the floor of a room and therefore does not provide the flexibility desired of an open space office system.
While the above references show the concept of carrying telephone or electrical lines in an open space system, they do not reach the problem of providing heating and ventilation in the office space in which the modular work stations are located. In the past, the entire office space has been heated and cooled by means of a circulation system including ducting and vents which are mounted in the permanent walls or ceilings of an office building. Typically, the floors of an office building will be spaced a distance sufficient to accomodate air conditioning and/or heating ducts. Since a typical use of the open office concept is with machines which generate heat, such as typewriters, CRT display devices and the like, it is necessary to remove the heat generated by these machines in order to provide a comfortable work environment. A central heating and ventilation system for an office space will not adequately remove the heat generated by the office machines. Instead, it is much more desirable to remove the heat at its source by means of ducts or the like which are located within the modular work station, with these ducts communicating to a central exhaust. In this way, the permanent structures such as ducts mounted in ceilings, floors, walls and the like used in the traditional heating and ventilation system can be eliminated. By dispensing with permanently mounted heating and ventilation ducts, a more efficient use of an office space can be made while the flexibility of the open space office system is maintained.